Be forewarned: The writer of this blog is an extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled sandmonkey. If this is your cup of tea, please enjoy your stay here. If not, please sod off

Thursday, August 04, 2005

David Brooks columns aren't entirely useless

Today's Op-Ed piece by David Brooks had 3 very interesting points to make about the recent terrorist attacks and what they say about the new Jihadies.
Moneyshot:
Roy emphasizes that the jihadists are the products of globalization, and its enemies. They are detached from any specific country or culture, he says, and take up jihad because it attaches them to something. They are generally not politically active before they take up jihad. They are looking to strike a vague blow against the system and so give their lives (and deaths) shape and meaning. [...]The first implication, clearly, is that democratizing the Middle East, while worthy in itself, may not stem terrorism. Terrorists are bred in London and Paris as much as anywhere else. Second, the jihadists' weakness is that they do not spring organically from the Arab or Muslim world. They claim to speak for the Muslim masses, as earlier radicals claimed to speak for the proletariat. But they don't. Surely a key goal for U.S. policy should be to isolate the nationalists from the jihadists.Third, terrorism is an immigration problem. Terrorists are spawned when educated, successful Muslims still have trouble sinking roots into their adopted homelands. Countries that do not encourage assimilation are not only causing themselves trouble, but endangering others around the world as well.
This is why the US is less likely to ever produce home-grown terrorists then say the Netherlands: The US educational system emphasizes integration and muslims from different backgrounds are assimilated into the society, while the one in the Netherlands is all about tolerance and multiculturalism and leaving their immigrants decide what kind of schools they want and what is taught in it, to the point that they have Madaress in Amsterdam. This is why Theo Van Goch's killer was born and raised in the Netherlands, while all of the 9/11 Highjackers were foreigners. If Europe is to survive the militant islamic culture, it has to enforce cultural assimilation in its schools, and stop doing shit like that and the US needs to stop schools like these!

3 Comments:

Not that terrorism isn't a concern, but it's a minor pinprick. The point of democratisation from the geopolitical perspective is to preclude the possibility that a lone maniacal ruler could covertly order a nuclear/bio/chem etc. attack.

America has always been a melting pot, at least it was until very recently. Anyone coming here WANTED to be an American and the second citizenship was granted they BECAME Americans. Nobody questioned it, you just became a part of this country, entitled to everything that comes with citizenship.

Prime example is a favorite story may Dad always told. My grandmother came from Scotland with a thick Scottish brogue so strong you could barely understand her. During the days of Al Capone, she would read the newspaper and shake her head and say "Those Gott damn forrrrrringers, they ought to pack them all up and send them back where they came frrrrrrom". My dad would always respond "Ma, you're a foreigner" and she would get all huffy and say "I am NOT, I'm an Amerrrrrrican!"

It's still that way today, if you enter this country legally, you are welcomed with open arms.

Being an American is a state of mind. There are those within our country now who will never be an American because they do not embrace the idea of America, and there are those who live in far flung countries who are Americans even though they have never left the country of their birth. Those are the ones who will come here someday and be accepted immediately.

Terrorism will probably never be defeated, but it will be beat back to the point where it becomes a local law enforcement problem instead of an international threat.